


Down For The Count

by panicking



Series: The Sky's The Limit [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hospitals, M/M, in which there are more dogs because why not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-07-27 00:11:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7595716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panicking/pseuds/panicking
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Poe is very much in love with a hospitalized Finn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Rey woke up early the next morning to sunlight streaming in through the window. She did not wake up, per se, as she had not fully fallen asleep the entire night. She merely changed states of consciousness. 

She walked to the kitchen and put a single piece of bread in the toaster, knowing that she should eat more but not feeling like it. She wandered back to her bedroom and put on her favorite sweatshirt. It was well worn and not as soft as it used to be, but she treasured it all the same. Technically, it was Finn’s favorite sweatshirt, but Rey had stolen it once when she was particularly cold and had never bothered to give it back. 

She buried her nose in the collar, inhaling deeply. She had possessed it for so long that Finn’s scent no longer remained in the sweatshirt. She did not care.

She heard the toaster dimly ding and walked to the kitchen, grabbing the piece of toast and mindlessly eating it without butter. She grabbed her phone from her room and called Han, dully informing him that she could not go in today. Her need to see Finn was far greater than her desire to go into work. Han replied, gruffly, that of course he had not expected her to come into the shop. He told her to tell Finn to get better, but that comas were not actually that bad. He had been in a long one, once, and he turned out just fine. He ended the call quickly, with an admonishment for her to take care of herself. 

Rey sniffled, once, and curled up on the couch.

+++++

Rey arrived at the hospital twenty minutes before visiting hours, grabbing her arms and shivering despite the warmth of the lobby. In one hand she held a small bouquet of heleniums, one of the few fall-blooming flowers that grew in abundance near their apartment. It was a member of the daisy family, if Rey remembered correctly. Daisies were Finn’s favorite flower, and even though he would not be awake for her visit, she would make sure that everything was as he liked.

After what seemed like an eternity, Rey was admitted into the ward, where a nurse quietly and gently explained the situation. The coma was medically induced and he would stay under for a small number of days, the nurse explained. This was the best option for him, as the chances of Finn waking up with head trauma lessened enormously if he was not in control of said head.

Rey was free to talk to Finn, she was told, but nothing would help him wake up any earlier. The nurse said that sometimes patients remembered what they had been told, but just as often had no recollection at all of their time in the coma. 

The nurse patted Rey gently on the shoulder before standing up and leaving to attend to her many other duties. Rey barely noticed the woman leave, her gaze fixed singlemindedly on Finn’s resting form.

Rey stepped further into the room and set her small bouquet down on the bedside table. Somehow, the rational part of her brain had remembered to put the flowers in a vase before she came. Rey gently arranged the flowers to the best of her ability before pulling the chair as close as she could to Finn’s bed. She simply looked at him, drinking in the form of her best friend.

He had been there for her, many times over the years. Times when she had had no one else to turn to. And now, for once, she was there for him, watching and waiting.

Rey reached for his hand and held it, gently, rhythmically squeezing it in time with her breathing. After a time, she found herself talking softly to him, telling him about her day so far. She told him about the old lady who had seen her picking the flowers, who had scowled at her before she saw that Rey was crying. 

She told Finn about the therapy dog she had seen in the lobby downstairs. The dog had been big and fluffy and brown, slowly wagging his tail at every new person he saw. 

The owner had noticed her attention and had walked over to her, letting Rey pet the dog. The owner said that the dog’s name was Fondue, which Rey thought was an apt name for the fat, fuzzy dog. 

She told Finn about the color of the floors and the ceilings and the walls in the hallways. They were all variations of beige, except for some of the accent colors. The nurses and doctors were like accent colors themselves, individual splashes of brightness bringing news to all the drab onlookers.

She told Finn about the Bentley parked out front, and how she had seen a beat up, slightly rusty Camaro next to it in a laughable display of ruggedness and one-upmanship. The Bentley was a slick, sleek silver, and the Camaro had once been a beautiful orange, or so she thought. 

She told Finn about the encroaching storm. She had felt it, when she walked into the hospital that morning. The wet feel of the air, she told him, was so much so that her sweatshirt was almost damp just by standing outside.

She told Finn nonsense, anything that could and would come to mind. Anything to keep talking, to keep acting like Finn was healthy and safe.  
Unbeknownst to her, hours passed. When she was describing the merits of naming a dog after a food, a nurse entered the room and silently took Finn’s vitals. Rey glanced up, briefly, before continuing her one-sided discussion. Rey missed the quirk of the nurse’s mouth as Rey began pondering names of dogs in general, including a particular bull terrier that she was rather fond of.

Later, a nurse came in to gently remind Rey that visiting hours were almost over. Rey looked at her, slightly shocked, before realizing that she had been talking for quite a while and her voice was almost hoarse. Rey stood up and stretched, her back popping in a number of places. Her stomach growled in accompaniment, forcefully reminding her that she had only eaten a single slice of bread all day.

Rey looked at Finn for a moment longer before squeezing his hand once again. She bent down and brushed her lips against his forehead before relinquishing her grip on his hand. She walked out of the room and looked back, once, making sure that his chest rose and fell.

It did.


	2. Chapter 2

Rey woke up suddenly, as if someone had poured ice-cold water over her sleeping form. Obviously, no one had, as she was the only one in the apartment. With that thought, realization flooded back like a punch to the gut. Finn was in the hospital. In a coma. She had visited him just the day before, and, she realized as she checked her phone, nothing had changed. 

She stood up and stretched, reluctant to walk into the rest of the empty apartment. She wished that BB-8 was with her. BB-8 would cheer her up because dogs always know how to comfort someone. Yes, Rey had Chewie and Leia and Han, but they were not the same as someone her own age, someone who acted more like a best friend than a parent or older relative. Her person was not available, due to his comatose state. 

She sighed and rubbed her eyes blearily. Sleep had not come easily, but once it did, it was fitful and strewn with half-fulfilled prophecies of bygone days she would rather forget.

She grabbed her phone on her way to the kitchen and dialed Han, informing him that she, again, would not come into work. It was just too much to take in at the moment. Han replied, in the same gruff voice as before, that he had not expected her to come back so early in this situation. Rey smiled weakly as he hung up, looking down at her phone for a moment longer before setting it down and readying her meager breakfast.

+++++

Rey arrived at the hospital twenty minutes early. It was early enough that she was able to grab hospital coffee, from which she expected the worst. She took a sip and smiled grimly. It was not as bad as what she had grown up on, but it was definitely a close second. Somehow, the coffee grounds seemed to separate from the hot water in her mouth, coating her tongue in a strange mix of coffee and caffeine and silt while burning the roof of her mouth with the now-tasteless water. 

It truly was a wonder of the modern world.

 

Rey was admitted into the ward by the same nurse as the day before. She was elegant, Rey noticed, with an air of grace surrounding her tired form. The nurse’s eyes were tight and sharp and noticed everything without taking anything extra in. There was silent approval, Rey thought, but she could not be entirely sure.

None of that mattered, however, as Rey stepped next to Finn’s bed. She thanked the nurse, who smiled gently, and reached for Finn’s warm hand as she drew up a chair. She sat there in silence for a moment, breathing in time with Finn, before beginning to speak. 

Rey told him about the sunrise that morning, how the sky was strewn with pinks and yellows in such a lackadaisical way that it was beautiful and breathtaking, and how she had taken a picture of it so that he could see what he had missed when he was comatose.

She told him about the sleek, slick Bentley that was still parked outside. The rusty Camaro was nowhere to be seen, and she fervently hoped that she would never see the car at the hospital again, charismatic as it was.

Rey was beginning to tell Finn about her first time playing softball when there was a slight knock on the door. Rey turned around to see Leia standing there with a soft smile.

“How are you doing?” Leia asked, walking into the room as Rey stood up and walked toward her.

“I’m,” Rey coughed, clearing her throat. “I’m doing fine, thank you.” She looked back at Finn and then at Leia, her face betraying exactly how fine she was not. Leia stepped forward and embraced Rey, like a mother would her child. Rey melted into the hug and held on a tight as she dared before letting go. 

“Thank you,” she said softly, wiping at her eyes.

“Of course,” Leia responded as she drew up another chair next to Rey’s. The two women sat down and looked at Finn.

“He’s hard to replace, you know,” said Leia shortly. “No one knows exactly what to do like he does, and no one is better at getting out of tight situations. He’s a fighter, this one, and he’ll make it through better than ever.”

Rey smiled and looked at Leia, her reply cut short as the same nurse entered the room and checked on Finn.

“I will be able to work tomorrow,” began Rey. “It’ll be good for me, and I know Han needs the help.”

Leia looked at Rey with an expression akin to surprise, but with a hint of approval in the set of her mouth. “He didn’t expect you to come back to work so soon, he knows how important Finn is to you.” 

Leia paused before speaking again. “He understands completely how comas work, you know. He was in one for a very long time a little after he and I first started dating.”

“He was?” asked Rey, curious. Han had mentioned that, once or twice over the years, but never given it more than a second’s remark.

Leia smiled ruefully. “He was in a bad situation, to say the least. He ended up in a coma for quite a while. It was touch and go for the first part, but then the doctors switched their story and told us that they were sure he would make it.”

“Us?” asked Rey.

Leia snorted. “Myself and Lando Calrissian, Han’s other best friend. He lives far away now, but he didn’t back then. He’s a true scoundrel, almost more than Han, if that’s possible. Lando and I became a lot closer when Han was in a coma. We leaned on each other more than we expected, which definitely changed the course of our friendship. Otherwise, I’m not sure how well we would have gotten along, since I didn’t fully appreciate him at first.”

Leia swallowed and looked from Finn to Rey, blinking tears out of her eyes. “All of us really came together, then. I think that’s what ultimately made all of us -- Chewie, Lando, Luke, and I -- better friends. And then Han woke up and Luke brought Wedge into the mix, and here we are now.”

Leia looked around the small, tidy room again. “Rey, come have lunch with me, get some fresh air. It’ll do you good. You can come back here as soon as we’re done, but Finn wouldn’t want you moping around here forever.”

Rey nodded, smiling thinly. “Thank you, Leia.” She squeezed Finn’s hand once more and gently kissed his forehead before leaving with the older woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The owner of the Camaro is exactly who you think it is.


	3. Chapter 3

Rey woke up with a shock, her heart pounding in her chest, before she realized the cause of the abrupt termination of her sleep. The night before, she had called Han and told him that she was going into work today. He had not pressed and had simply accepted what she told him. In reality, she needed the routine and the companionship, although she had told her boss that she needed the money. Which she did, noting that the jar of peanut butter was shockingly low.

She thought of nothing during her drive to work and was welcomed back with a brief nod from Han and an extremely tight hug from Chewie. She settled down into her usual chair and breathed a sigh of relief. Even though Finn was comatose, work and the rest of the world ran smoothly as normal. Han treated her no differently, and the customers certainly did not.

The day passed without care as the sun began to sink lower in the sky. It was beginning to darken as early as four, although the sun still shone through the treetops across the way, casting shadows that swayed in the cool breeze.

As the usual late afternoon lull came into full effect, Han wandered over to Rey’s stool and leaned on her bench.

“You can leave early, if you want,” he began, gruff as ever. Rey turned to him with a frown. “I mean, there’s nothing else here for you to do.”

Rey scrunched her nose and looked at him. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, kid. Scram. Go do whatever it is you do, visit a hospital or something, I don’t care.”

Rey smiled and looked down at her hands, covered in grease from the day’s work.

“Thank, Han. I’ll tell him you said hello.”

“I said no such thing,” called Han after her as she walked towards the sink in the back.

+++++

Rey made her way along the now-familiar route to Finn’s bed. The nurse was different but just as nice, smiling when she let Rey in. The nurse had red hair tied in an efficient bun, attracting Rey’s curious eyes. She left quickly and Rey was alone with Finn once again, the nurse leaving her mind as swiftly as she had entered. 

Rey pulled up the well-worn gray chair, ignoring the newer, brighter, red one next to it. She liked old things, not as a matter of principle, but because she figured they were used to the world and would work well enough for her, as they had seemed to meet the needs of everyone who came before her. One of the only new things she owned was her blue jacket, a gift from Leia on her birthday. Rey had never expected such a gift and cherished the jacket nearly as much as she cherished her car, a castoff from the old junkyard she had worked at. 

She took Finn’s hand and laced her fingers through it, feeling the feeble warmth pass into her fingers. Normally, Finn was a personal heater and always wanted the temperature in the room to be turned down, but the induced coma made him stay cooler than he probably preferred. 

She began to narrate her day, a tale frequented by off-topic musings. She told him of the mug she had seen one of the nurses carrying. She thought he would like it, she said, snickering, because it said “do you want to come in my cockpit?”. 

She had not seen any service dogs in the hospital that day, but she hoped that one would come near her. 

Not that much later, someone knocked at the door and walked in. Rey turned around, still holding Finn’s hand, and stilled. The intruder was wearing an offensively bright orange jacket and was staring at her curiously. She stared back.

“You’re Rey, right?” the stranger asked, beginning to smile.

“Yes, I am. And you are?”

“Poe, Poe Dameron.”

Rey inhaled sharply and smiled. So this was Poe, Finn’s favorite mirage. She stood up, still holding onto Finn’s hand, and extended her other hand. “So you’re Poe! I’ve heard so much about you,” she said, shaking his hand enthusiastically.

“You have?” he asked, smiling wider.

“Yes, he talks about you all the time.” Rey’s smile broadened as she sat down and watched Poe take the red chair to the other side of Finn’s bed. Poe really was a beautiful human being, with the perfectly tousled hair that Finn had waxed poetic about for days on end. Somehow, the insolently orange jacket suited him, in a way that Rey had not thought was possible before meeting Poe. 

“So how’s BB-8 doing?” Rey asked, watching as Poe absentmindedly took Finn’s other hand.

“She’s great, actually,” said Poe, beaming like a proud father. “I never got a chance to thank you for taking such good care of her, she misses you guys. However,” he continued, frowning, “she has a very strong desire for bananas and peanut butter now and wiggles her entire body whenever I grab either one of them.”

He looked accusingly at Rey, who acted like she was confused by his nonverbal implication. “That’s very strange, I wonder why she likes them so much. They are a good combination, though. She is a very smart dog.”

Rey grinned. The conversation moved to other topics, most of which revolved around Finn. Poe asked how she and Finn met, which Rey recounted through laughter. Rey countered by asking about Poe’s duties and how he found out about the job. Poe asked how Rey met Han, and Rey asked how Poe knew Han. He laughed at that, filling the room with happy memories.

Rey and Poe exchanged various escapades involving Finn, including the time when three people were gathered around Finn and BB-8 and asked increasingly complex questions. Rey had just stood there and let him take full responsibility, as she was not the one who had agreed to watch over a dog for four days.

Later, the conversation turned more somber as a nurse came in to check Finn’s vitals and told them that it was getting late and that maybe they should be on their way. Poe stood up first and relinquished his hold on Finn’s hand, watching Rey as she did the same. Rey leaned over and gently kissed Finn’s forehead before following Poe out of the room.

“Did you park here?” He asked, turning to face her as they stepped into the elevator.

“Yeah, kind of far out. It was one of the only good spots left.”

“I’ll walk you to your car, if you don’t mind.”

“I can handle myself, thanks,” Rey retorted, crossing her arms.

“I believe you, but I couldn’t bear it if something happened to Finn’s best friend. He talks about you all the time, you know.” Rey looked at him and tilted her head.

“Really?”

“Yeah, you’re his favorite person in the world. Aside from me, of course,” Poe said, smirking. Rey snorted, allowing Poe to see her safely to her car. 

He walked around it admiringly when they arrived, remembering what she had said earlier.

“You fixed this up yourself?”

“Yeah, wasn’t too difficult. She’s pretty easy for a car of her temperament.” 

Poe nodded. “It was nice meeting you, Rey. I’m glad Finn has someone like you in his life. Maybe I’ll run into you here again.”

Rey nodded and waved as he walked off into the patchy darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the life of me I could not come up with a better pilot joke and I don't know why.


	4. Chapter 4

Rey woke up to her alarm, persistent and uncaring about her sleep schedule as always. She almost went back to sleep, really, except that she knew she needed to get to work on time. The garage had been busier than usual lately, meaning that Rey had to stay longer than she wished just to get to all the customers that she needed to.

Today, however, she was going to leave early. She had already notified Han of her decision, and she was determined enough that he had not tried to stop her. He understood, of course, because today was the first day that Finn would be awake and allowed to have visitors. Rey could hardly wait.

The rest of the day passed fairly quickly, with Rey working as efficiently as possible so that she was justified in leaving work early. Han would never begrudge her, she knew, but she felt better knowing that she had put in the necessary work.

She arrived at the hospital and walked the now-familiar halls in anticipatory silence. The receptionist had warned her that Finn might not be awake and that he might be experiencing temporary amnesia, but Rey was not worried. Finn was her best friend and he was alive, and that was all that mattered.

She knocked softly on his door, once, before opening it. A nurse was talking gently to Finn, who was nodding slowly. He looked up at her arrival and beamed, his face breaking out into a huge smile.

“Rey!” he cried, his voice hoarse from lack of use. “You’re here!”

“Of course I am,” she replied, coming forward and hugging him tightly. She let go after a long moment and looked at the nurse, who smiled sweetly at her. 

“This is the girl I was telling you about earlier,” the nurse said, gesturing towards Rey. Finn smiled widely and Rey smiled back, unsure of how to react to that statement. “I’ll leave you to it,” she said before leaving the room.

Rey cocked an eyebrow at Finn, who motioned for her to take a seat. She did, and grabbed his hand like she had done when he was asleep. 

“The nurse was telling me about my visitors,” Finn said. “She talked mainly about you, the ‘girl with the weird hair--’”

“I do not have weird hair,” interrupted Rey, twirling a stray curl around her finger. Finn gave her a look and continued.

“You, and this guy in a very bright, orange jacket. Did you happen to meet this jacket-wearing man?”

“I did, and his name is Poe Dameron and he owns a dog,” said Rey, giggling. “He’s very nice and handsome, I can see why you like him.”

“You like him? You think he’s okay?” asked Finn, concerned as ever about Rey’s approval of his crush.

“Yeah, he’s sweet and earnest and likes you a lot, Finn.”

“You really think so?”

“Absolutely, he was here almost as often as I was.” Rey smiled and put her other hand on top of Finn’s. He was quiet as she caught him up for the time he was gone, fading in and out of consciousness as she spoke. She paused whenever he fell asleep so that he would not miss anything she had to say. 

Hours passed, full of easy words and simple silences. Eventually, she had to leave, but she hugged Finn once more and kissed him on the forehead for good measure. She left, promising to bring him a few books the next time she visited.

She arrived home at the empty apartment, happy and relieved. She had not realized it, but seeing Finn awake had been something that she desperately needed. She made herself a quick dinner and sat alone on the couch, listening to Sufjan Stevens and thinking to herself. There had been plenty of time to think, earlier, in the times that Finn was unconscious. He had tried his best to stay awake, but his body was still recovering and he needed all the rest he could get. She did not blame him.

Slowly, tears fell, but they were no longer tears of despair.


	5. Chapter 5

Days later, Rey was yet again seated at Finn’s bedside. He was awake and listening to her ramble on about this one awful customer she had had to deal with, who thought that he knew more about his car than she did. She began gesticulating wildly in attempted imitation, making Finn laugh harder than he had in a while.

Partway through her dramatic retelling, there was a quiet knock on the door and two figures stepped through. Rey paused in her story and brought her arms back to a normal position, still grinning.

“Hey, Poe. I didn’t expect you to be here yet,” Rey said, looking first at Poe and then his visitor. Finn was busy wiping away tears of laughter but quickly looked up when he heard Poe’s voice.

“Hey Rey, Finn. This is Jessika Pava, my best friend. Jess, this is Finn and Rey.” Poe grabbed the two other chairs and maneuvered them to the side of the bed opposite Rey.

“Nice to meet you both,” Jess chirped, shaking Finn’s hand and then Rey’s. Her hand lingered for a beat longer than necessary in Rey’s, or so Rey hoped. Jess, slightly shorter than Poe and nearly glowing even in the harsh hospital light, was beautiful. Rey swallowed.

“I’ve heard so much about you both,” continued Jess, sitting down next to Poe. “Especially you, Finn.” She smirked as Poe blushed and batted lightly at her shoulder. Rey smiled at that. It was a good sign, that Poe talked about Finn as often as Finn talked about him. In the back of her mind, a tiny voice wished that he’d spoken to Jess more often about her. That voice was quickly hushed as her mind focused on the present.

The four had a lively conversation, as Poe was eager to incorporate Jess into his friends’ lives as quickly as possible. Rey was just as eager, as Jess seemed like a lovely person to know better.

“So, Jess, how did you and Poe meet?” Rey asked. Jess sniggered and Poe rolled his eyes.

“It was, what, a few years ago? I had just joined the stunt group that Jess here is a part of, it was literally my first day on the job. I’m meeting everyone, shaking the hands of the people who are there -- you know how it is,” Poe began, glancing at Finn. 

“So Poe here had just finished meeting everyone else in one of our break rooms,” said Jess. “Then I walk into the room and the first thing I see is Poe just eating it, landing flat on his back.” Jess was giggling, unable to keep a straight face. 

“Apparently, he slipped on a banana that was just lying there innocently on the floor. I still can’t believe that he actually slipped on a banana, you know? So then I go to help him up and he stands up before I can get to him, but then he looks me right in the eye and deadpans, ‘the floor looked so apeeling, I had to get to know it better.’” Jess paused and looked at Poe before laughing again. 

“I couldn’t believe that someone with that frankly terrible sense of humor was allowed into the stunt group, so I immediately became best friends with him.”

Poe made a weak effort to explain himself before laughing. “I had to ease the tension somehow and it seemed like the best option at the time.” Rey and Finn looked at each other and laughed, realizing how similar their first meeting was.

Poe pulled out his phone and inhaled. “Okay, it looks like I have to take Jess away from you two bad influences, we have a dinner reservation. Jess is leaving tomorrow morning, but I will be seeing you two cool cats later.” Poe saluted the remaining pair and breezed out of the room, nearly tripping on Jess’s chair on the way. Jess looked after him fondly.

“He’s a loveable mess, isn’t he?” She laughed and shook her head, walking around to Rey’s side of the bed. “Since I don’t actually live here, I think the best way to cultivate our relationship would be through the phone. Can I have your number?”

Rey blushed, smiled, and agreed, quickly exchanging contact information. Jess waved cheekily as she left, leaving behind an amused Finn and a slightly stunned Rey.

The room was silent for a moment before Finn spoke. “‘The best way to cultivate our relationship?’ What kind of hardcore flirting was that?”

“Oh, shut up,” replied Rey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jess Pava is here to save us all and we should thank her


	6. Chapter 6

“Alright, Finn. Your results are coming back excellently. In fact, they are far better than what we had projected. Now, this leaves you two options: you can leave this afternoon, once all the required paperwork has processed, meaning that you’ll have intensive checkups over the next few days that you’ll have to come back here for, or you can stay here until the intended release date and have weekly checkups after that. What do you think?”

“Please, get me out of here as soon as possible,” said Finn. The nurse smiled down at him and nodded, leaving the room. Finn looked around for what he realized was one of the last times. He hoped that he never had to spend this long in the hospital ever again.

The room was sprinkled with traces of his friends, from Rey’s flowers to Poe’s get well balloon. There was also a small stash of candy hidden in the flower vase, but the nurses didn’t know about that. Finn considered calling Rey to tell her when to pick him up but decided against it, realizing that he would far rather wait for Rey outside in the cool air than go directly from inside the hospital to inside her car.

A long while later, the same nurse returned to collect Finn. The exodus was a long and boring process filled with payment methods and a hospital bill that hurt more than his healing arm.

After a tortuous few hours, Finn finally walked down a nearly empty hallway and down the elevator, arriving at last in the lobby. Once there he stopped in his tracks upon seeing a woman with a therapy dog the size of a small pony.

“Excuse me, is that a therapy dog?” he asked, moderately amazed at the sheer size of the dog.

“Yes, she is, would you like to pet her?” the woman asked, smiling.

“Absolutely, she’s gorgeous,” said Finn. “What kind is she?”

“Achoo is part bloodhound, part something else, all love,” the woman replied. She allowed Finn to pet Achoo for a while more. Achoo was obviously not Fondue, the therapy dog that Rey had met, but Finn was okay with that. 

“I do apologize but I must leave, I have some sick kids to visit.”

“Of course, thank you for letting me pet her,” said Finn. “Have a nice day!”

The woman replied in turn and walked off towards the elevator. Finn went to the front desk and filled out the last vestiges of paperwork before taking a deep breath and exiting the building.

He sighed deeply, thankful that he was alive and able to walk again. He turned and walked to the nearest bench, suddenly tired from moving around so much after being mostly confined to a bed.

He had just pulled out his phone to call Rey when he heard a familiar voice call his name.

“Poe?” Finn said, standing up and looking around.

“Buddy,” exclaimed Poe as he jogged towards Finn. They met in a tight embrace, holding on for slightly longer than necessary before stepping away, Poe’s arms resting on Finn’s.

“What happened? You’re out?” asked Poe.

Finn nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, they let me out early. Turns out I’m recovering better than expected so I was able to leave sooner than they thought.” Finn paused and smiled.

Suddenly, Poe kissed him, one hand cupping his jaw and the other moving to Finn’s waist. Finn, after a brief moment of pure, unbridled shock, responded, settling his hands on Poe.

The world narrowed into pure sensation as Finn closed his eyes. He could feel Poe’s warm hand, burning, on his jawline, holding him ever so gently. Poe’s other hand was on his waist, gripping his shirt like he was holding on for dear life. Finn certainly was, clinging on to Poe’s hips like his life depended on it.

Seconds or hours later, they separated, smiling uncontrollably. 

“What was that?” asked Finn, still shocked.

“What,” said Poe flatly, like he hadn’t just reached out and kissed Finn. 

Finn opened his mouth to speak, found nothing, and shook his head. “You just kissed me.”

“Yeah, that was the idea,” said Poe. “What, you didn’t like it? I’ll stop if you want me to, I just thought that I was getting all the signals right.” 

“No, yeah, you were definitely getting the signals right, I liked that and I like you, all that stuff,” said Finn, jumbling the last words together in a rush to get them out.

“So you do like me,” said Poe, grinning broadly and throwing an arm around Finn’s shoulders. He began steering him towards the car, chattering amiably all the way.

“Wait, hang on, I gotta call Rey.” Poe nodded and sat in the driver’s seat, pretending he couldn’t hear every word Finn was saying.

“Hey, Rey?”

“Finn! Why are you calling me?”

“I got released early, I’m doing better than they expected.”

“Do you need me to come get you?”

“Actually, Poe’s already here,” said Finn sheepishly. “He’s gonna take me back to our place so I can sleep some more.”

“Finn, what happened? I can hear the smile in your voice and you know it.”

“Um. Poe kissed me and I’ll tell you later, okay? See you in a bit.” Finn ended the call, putting a halt to Rey’s flabbergasted noises.

“All ready, buddy?” asked Poe as Finn got in the car. Finn looked at him and smiled.

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points for knowing who Achoo is. Also, thank you all for reading! Part three will arrive at some time in the future.  
> I do apologize for any and all inaccuracies in this fic, which may have occurred largely because I cannot remember the last time I set foot in a hospital.

**Author's Note:**

> My apologies for the long wait.
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here](http://http://adamsveins.tumblr.com)!


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